love and lonlieness
by planer sage
Summary: It's October 10th and Naruto is planning to spend his yearly sojourn in the woods to escape the murderers and psychopaths of the grand festival. But this years his friends have other plans. Will all hell break loose once they learn why he is hiding.
1. Chapter 1

**Love and Loneliness**

It was October 10, the day of the festival that commemorated the day the fourth Hokage defeated the Nine-tailed fox. It was also the birthday of a certain blond haired Ninja, but everyone even his friends paid it no heed either intentionally or in the case if his friends unintentionally due to Naruto never giving his birthday out to even those closest to him. The only ones who knew the truth and gave a damn were Jiraiya, Tsunade, Iruka, and Kakashi , and Naruto had already sworn them to secrecy. Even Naruto's personal Stalker and one girl fan-club, Hinata Hyuga was unaware of the importance of the day as she was swept up in her clans preparation for the day. As said day dawned their was a sense of general excitement in the air as the entire village prepared to pull out all the stops for the festival, all except one. Naruto Uzumaki woke up with the same feeling of dread he felt every other October 10.

"_What a shitty day."_ He thought as he gathered up his supplies to camp out in the forest. Ever since a group of men had burst into his home drunk during the ninth festival and left him barley alive even by his standards of endurance, Naruto knew that even his home was no safe haven from this who sought his blood. Though his reputation had skyrocketed over the years there were still die hards who would always hate him, and would mob up every festival day, though they were put down as soon as they began, but it he could never be to careful. He had just finished packing when he heard a knock on the door. Standing straight up, Naruto padded over to the door, and looked through the peephole he had installed without the landlords knowledge. Looking through it, Naruto saw all his friends from Sasuke who had returned some months ago, to Hinata who had with her fathers silent permission, sneaked out of the Hyuga compound with Neji's aid to spend the festival with her friends.

"Naruto-Kun, we have gathered at your residence to invite you to enjoy the festival with us in youthful abandon." Lee said heartily

"You know Lee when you say it that way it sounds disturbing." Neji told the boy.

"Hey Dobe, whatever your doing, hurry it up and get out here." Sasuke demanded

Naruto felt a wrench in his gut as he saw all his close friends outside calling for him to come, out. How dearly he wished to walk through the festival with his friends, laughing and having fun that he shook with longing. Naruto stole silently away from the door as Lee all but pounded on it

"I wonder what is the matter. I hope Naruto-kun is not sick?" Lee wonder concerned

"I doubt Naruto's been sick a day in his life." Sasuke said irritated.

"Maybe he isn't home." Hinata said softly

"He's home. I can see him." Neji said, veins bulging out of his activated byakugan.

"Neji-kun, don't do that, he might be bathing." Hinata said disapprovingly, and her face turned red as a fantasy of a naked Naruto ran trough her mind, water from a shower slowly washed down his sculpted body over his long...

"Why does he have his traveling gear?" Neji asked bringing Hinata out of her red faced fantasy.

Activating her byakugan, the young woman saw Naruto shrug into his traveling pack before teleporting away.

Naruto had gotten away, or so he hoped as he ran along a roof top toward the forest. He felt lower than dog vomit that he had disappeared on his friends, but he wasn't about to ruin their day more than he already had by telling them exactly why he wasn't going to the festival. A feeling on the edge of his senses made him stop short as Sasuke appeared in front of him.

"Hey dobe, where you off to?" He asked

"If you need me to answer that then your not as smart as I thought." He said, making the boy scowl.

"Come on, you know what day it is right?" Naruto asked as he sensed the others catch up to them

"Of course I do idiot, thats the reason we're chasing you. It's the grand festival, the day the fourth Hokage..." Sasuke said before the true implications of what the day meant hit him. The Uchiha's eyes widened imperceptibly as he shut his mouth.

"Naruto-kun there you are." Lee said as his other friends arrived.

"We were worried when you did not answer are youthful knocking and disappeared." Lee said.

"Yeah where are you going with your travel gear, all missions have been postponed for the festival." Ino said.

" This just isn't a good day." he said, half turning and giving them a wide half smile, and glancing at Sakura, who let out a silent gasp as what this day meant for him hit her as well, followed by guilt and anger at her stupidity that she never realized it until now. Out of nowhere two crossbow bolts impaled the boy causing every one to gasp before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Shadow clone." Shikamaru said as Sasuke used his sharingan to immediately lock on to the assassin.

Blurring out of existence, the boy reappeared in front of the assassin. Kicking him in the gut, Sasuke sent the man flying into a wall, and then pinned him to that wall with a crashing punch, hearing and feeling the satisfying sound and feel of several ribs cracking as he pulled out his katana and held it to the mans throat.

"Tell me why you did that before I take your head from your shoulders" he hissed, staring at the man with his sharingan, but he already knew the answer. Sasuke saw the energy signatures of the anbu before they arrived and jumped back so the man fell into the Ninjas arms, who promptly pinned him to the ground and restrained him before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Sasuke deactivated his sharingan as Kakashi put a hand on the young mans shoulder.

"Sasuke, are you alright?" Sakura asked worriedly as the others landed next to him.

"It's Naruto we need to worry about." He said and looked at his sensei.

" Don't worry about it." Tsunade said as she gazed at the would be crime scene, flanked by Gai and Kurenai

"A long as Naruto stays out of sight he'll be alright." Kakashi said

"Excuse me but what does that mean?" Shikamaru asked

"Forget about it." Tsunade said

"You must be kidding. I may not be the most motivated guy in the world but when a friend needs to use shadow clones to avoid being assassinated, I tend to get interested." Shikamaru said, drawing determined looks from his friends.

"Shikamaru." Kurenai said sharply drawing attention from everyone.

"If Asuma were here, he would say the same thing." She said softly, drawing a glower from him

"That goes for the rest of you as well. Go to the festival, don't go, but please, don't dig any deeper into this. Trust me, you won't like what you find." The Hokage said softly

"Gai-sensei?" Lee asked, and his teacher/father figure nodded in a rarely solemn way before all of them puffed into smoke.

"What the hell was that all about." Ino said irritably.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Shikamaru said with a small smirk

"But we were specifically told not to." Lee said

"You do that." Shikamaru said snidely, earning a sour expression from Lee

"We should find Naruto-kun and see if he's alright." Hinata said worriedly

"And when we find him, maybe we can get him to spill on what's up." Kiba said. Sasuke and Sakura exchanged a knowing and worried gaze as they set off for the woods, not knowing that Kakashi was listening behind a building, and as they set off, he disappeared, reappearing in front of The fifth Hokage.

"They took the bait." Kakashi said with a one eyed smile.

"Of course, they may be ninja, but their still kids, and the best way to get a kid to do something is to tell them not the do it." She said knowingly. If this worked all hell would break lose, considering how many clan heirs were Narutos friends, but it would be worth it to finally get this damned secret out in the open.

**New story. This is going to be a mature story which may or may not have sexual content so be warned.**


	2. sadness

**Love and Loneliness **

**outcast**

Naruto had set up his campsite at his favorite place, a small lake in one of Kanohoa's many small forests. He had set up his traps against those who had enough rage to spend on a search for him, as well as used every single trick he knew to keep his presence hidden and now had stripped off his cloths all the way down to his bare skin as he dove into the lake, and drifted around lackadaisically in the setting sun.

"Are you sure Naruto went this way Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked as the Konoha shinobi leapt through the trees.

"Pretty sure He said with a sheepish grin."

"What do you mean pretty sure?" Shino asked

"Well, I lost his scent awhile back." Kiba said

"What!" Sakura asked and came to a complete stop

"Kiba shouldn't you have said something earlier." Sasuke asked derisively.

"Hey, get off my back. It's not my fault that the idiot went to so much trouble to hid his scent." Kiba snapped.

"Can you really call Naruto an idiot if he managed to fool you?" Sasuke asked smugly.

"That's enough, both of you." Sakura snapped, partially in anger, and partially to keep the boys from each others throats.

"Sakura-chan is right, there is no time to be arguing, not when are dear friend is languishing his youth away in solitude." Lee said determined

"_What the hells going on here_?" Shikamaru wondered

"_I know Naruto's always had a bad rap with the village for some reason, but this is insane. This is the first time I've seen him flee from anything, and I'm sure he's done this every year for a long time. It has to have something to do with the festival, and that means something with the demon fox, but what. If only that infuriating woman would answer my questions."_

"Hey Shikamaru! Quit daydreaming" Ino shouted in his ear, making him wince

"I wasn't daydreaming, I was thinking, and if you would stop shrieking for moment, I would like to finish." He said irritably, making Ino's face scrunch up in anger, but before she could launch into a diatribe Choji put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a meaningful look.

Shikamaru put his hands together in his trademark thinking pose and tried to assemble all the pieces. Naruto ran and hid in the forest every Oct 10 during the festival. He had done this for years, probably since he could walk. It had something to do with Kyubi. Suddenly all the memories of Naruto doing amazing things came rushing back to his mind. His high endurance even during the academy years. How he could keep going even when Sasuke dropped from exhaustion was the one thing that made him stand out in class. How he trained to a state of exhaustion that would leave any other student including Sasuke out for a week and coming back the next day like nothing had happened, and last of all how he had summoned the strength to defeat Neji during their first Chunin exam. All this combined with the almost forgotten information of a book his father had made him read on demons when he was younger

"_You'll thank me for this one day." _He heard his father say as the realization of what Naruto was and why he was hiding today came crashing down on him like a ten ton weight.

"Oh man." He gasped, shaking slightly from the revelation.

"Shikamaru, what is it?" Choji asked.

"I think I've just had the biggest shock of my life, and if I'm right, Naruto's taken far more crap through out his life than any of us realized. But then again, I think you two know what I'm talking about right?" Shikamaru asked, causing Sakura to bow her head and Sasuke to stare.

"So It's true?" Shikamaru asked

"It's true Shino answered." shocking everyone

"How do you Know?" Sakura demanded.  
"I knew long before you did, but I needed Kurenai sensei to verify it. She told me the whole truth as much as she knew it since it was before her time." Shino said quietly

"All right, would someone tell me what the hell your all talking about?" Ino shouted.

"You must either figure it out yourself or ask it from Naruto. It his secret, and only his secret to tell to those whom he deems worthy." Shino explained.

"So that means we won't get a peep out of you...eh?" Kiba ask rhetorically.

"I have kept the secret this long, and I will continue to keep it as long as I need to." Shino said making a point to look at Hinata knowing her feelings for Naruto.

" _I wonder if her feelings will change once she learns the truth."_

" Come, we must continue our search before night falls." and with that the bug master was off again, leaving the res to catch up. Naruto made it a habit to stay up all night the night of the festival to watch for anyone looking for him. Twilight was setting in when he heard a slight rustling in the brush of to his left. The boy instantly leapt up, kunai in hand ready for whoever came at him, almost.

"Relax Dobe, It's me." Sasuke said as he walked out of the forest, followed by the rest of his friends.

"Naruto, you have led us in a youthful chase, but now we have found you and demand to know what has brought on this strange behavior?" Lee demanded.

"Yeah, spill it. We could be having fun at the festival now instead of chasing you all over Kanoha, so tell us why the hell your hiding like a dog with a tail between his legs?!" Kiba demanded harshly. Causing Whatever emotion Naruto to have on his face to disappear.

"Then go have fun at the damn festival. I didn't ask any of you to come here anyway." Naruto responded just as harshly, his expression stony causing Ino to flush Sakura and Hinata to cringe and Ten Ten to stare expressionless, waiting to see how thing would pan out.

"Naruto, yes or no are you the container of the Nine-Tailed demon fox?" Shikamaru asked brazenly. Everyone turned to stare at The boy, then back to Naruto who flinched at the question as if he had been struck. The blond bowed his head as if the weight of two worlds had been placed on his shoulders. Then he raised his head and looked Shikamaru in the eye.

"Yeah, so what's it to you?" Naruto growled.

"Nothing. Just making sure." He said with a smirk and a shrug causing Narutos scowl to deepen.

"Don't give me that look. I don't think any less of you, or any more for that matter." He said lazily. The comment drew out what was so common to Naruto, but what he hadn't done this entire miserable day. He laughed

"Thanks, I feel a lot better." He said sarcastically, but with a huge grin on his face.

"Glad I can help." Shikamaru responded.

"What are you laughing about. Do you know what this means!" Ino yelled.

"No, why don't you tell us." Shikamaru asked.

"Why are you laughing when your forced to hide here!?" Ino demanded

"Just the way things are I guess." Naruto said with that big smile, but now everyone knew that the smile was as fake as the mask he was carefully holding in place. Sasuke walked forward and grabbed Naruto by the collar staring into his eyes with an activated sharingan. After a moment Sasuke let Naruto loose and began walking back to the village. He was stopped by Naruto clutching his arm and turning him around.

"I know what your going to do Sasuke, and I'm begging you not to do it." Naruto pleaded.

"Why not. Why shouldn't I make the fools suffer?" He asked and Naruto gripped his other arm.

"Because your already on probation as is. If you go off and start tearing through the village who knows what'll happen to you, last of the Uchiha or not." He growled.

"Are you telling me I should just go back to the village while you have to camp here?" Sasuke hissed.

"I'm saying this is the only battle I've never won. Even now when most of the village accepts me, there are those who want me gone, and the festival brings them out in force." Naruto explained causing Sasuke to narrow his eyes. While all this was happening his other friends were letting this revelation about their friend set in.

"_So that's why nobody liked him. I always thought it was his personality, but Even when your pissed at him you can't help but like the guy._" Kiba thought as he thought of all the horrible treatment the boy had gone through and now that he knew the reason why, his stomach turned.

Choji reached into his pocket for a bag of chips, and found he had lost his appetite.

"_He knows. He knows what it's like to live under a curse, even more so than I do._" Neji thought realizing how much they had in common.

"_Wow, thats actually pretty cool." _Ten Ten thought, seeing the boy in a new light.

"_I gotta admit, I was pretty shocked at first, but that's pretty sexy." _Ino thought with a small smile. She had always like bad boys after all.

"Naruto!" Lee shouted running forward with tears in his eye.

"Naruto! Your youth knows no limits, fighting all your life for acceptance under the most cruel of circumstances. you are an honor to know." He exclaimed Draping an arm around Narutos shoulders and giving the nice guy pose, causing everyone to sweat drop. While Lee continued to sing Narutos praises Hinata moved from the back of the group to Sakura's side.

"So how long have you known?" she asked the pink haired medic in a whisper so cold it could freeze water. Sakura looked at the Hyuga and she looked back and Sakura almost took a step back from the cold fury she saw in her eyes. Sakura had always known Hinata had a crush on Naruto though she never understood what Hinata saw in him until she had spent her fair share of time in the ninjas presence. All the memories of the time she had yelled at, humiliated and belittled Naruto ran through her mind and the rage she felt at herself and her parents the first time Naruto told her about his secret came back in force.

"I'm sorry, Hinata." she whispered sadly and the Hyuga's eyes softened. All the conversation was cut short by a scream in the woods. Everyone but Naruto raced toward the scream. The boy sighed and followed more slowly. He caught up to them to find them grouped around a man hanging from a rope trap.

"There's the demon!" The man yelled drunkenly and thrashed around.

"I say we leave him up there." Shikamaru said

"You guys go back to the festival. People will begin to worry. Beside, I would really really like to be alone tonight." Naruto pleaded his back to them.

"I'll be alright tomorrow, I promise." He said and walked back to his campsite.

"We should go." Shino said and turned to go.

"But, Shino-kun!" Hinata said.

"Naruto needs to be alone tonight." Shino said and even though it broke their hearts they followed. The group returned to the village and saw the festival was out in force. Children laughed and played fourth Hokage and the demon fox, there were games where you could throw fake shuriken at fox faces and people were drinking an carousing.

"Hey friends" one such drunker ed shamble toward them.

"great party huh?" he asked

"To bad it's misplaced" he said sneering.

"With that monster still alive this party ain't valid. I say we go out hunt the freak down and barbecue him huh!" he shouted and a few other drunks shouted horraa while the sober adults and parents smirked and nodded in approval. In twelve different hearts something snapped and before anyone could blink Sasuke had separated the mans head from his shoulders with one swipe of his katana. You could have heard pin drop in the silence before everything descended into chaos and destruction.


End file.
